my all time favorite fanfics!

Hello, friends!

It’s that time of the year again – the one in which I self-indulgently share a post related to myself in honor of my birthday!!!! This year, I am turning 22 – yes, like the Taylor Swift song, which is funny because I didn’t even listen to 22 during the day of, though I always told myself that I would. Funny how things work.

I thought a lot about what should I write for my annual birthday post, and I ultimately settled in sharing about my favorite fanfics, mostly because they keep me going almost as much as books these days.

I should give a warning, first, that I only read fanfics from one specific fandom – the Gallavich one. (Aka Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich from Shameless US) So don’t expect many recs, this post is more like for me and for me only. Also, shoutout to Olivia Savannah @ Olivia’s Catastrophe who inspired me to do this post to begin with.

me struggling to find one gif when they’re not hitting each other or making out obscenely

ONE. PROMISED LAND, BY ANOMALOUSLY

Friends, it’s no coincidence Barack Obama’s memoir has the same title as the best Gallavich fanfic. Obama is a man of taste, clearly.

OK, but jokes aside, I do love this fic a lot. It is only 13-chapters long, since it’s been abandoned since 2018, and I know this is like a glaring red flag. And I get that, some people just don’t touch abandoned works and to each their own.

But I really love how angsty this one is. It alternates perspectives and it’s about childhood-friends to lovers Ian and Mickey who broke up six years ago and are now reunited. Mickey is also in a motorcycle club if that interests you.

I have to admit: I skim read the plot every time and jump straight to the Mickey/Ian scenes. And they’re fantastic! The level of angst and emotion seriously hurts me in a physical level, and the flashbacks really allow you to buy into their history.

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TWO. INTRO TO QUANTUM DATING BY SPOONFULSTAR

I feel like this fic’s synopsis “another college AU” sells it SOOOO short. Because this is actually so good! Indeed, Mickey and Ian are both college students and they start this friends with benefits dynamic as they slowly catch feelings for one another. In this case, we follow Ian’s perspective and both characters are pretty close to canon in terms of their backstories.

I love the writing style, as we follow short snippets through the weeks, and the original characters are also iconic, especially Linus – Ian’s roommate. While I do resent the fact the smut scenes are pretty, uh, not-hot, I do like how authentically the college experience is depicted here.

Ian and Mickey are constantly attending lectures, studying for tests and assignments and also discussing what they’ve learned in their classes. It makes it 10x more engaging imo, as you can really see them as real characters. It’s a pretty long fic, still on-going, and it’s very cute how we’ve been through so much with them already.

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THREE. I HAD A DREAM (I GOT EVERYTHING I WANTED) BY OFORAMUSE

I don’t want to say this fic saved my quarantine, but it kinda did.

This is an AU from 5×12/6×01 onwards, where Mickey lives with Mandy in NYC and he hasn’t seen Ian in nine years until they bump into each other while Ian is in the city for Fiona’s wedding.

This one is quite angsty, but there is so much healing. It is entirely from Mickey’s perspective, and while some may perceive this fic as a bit anti-Ian, I’ve never had that impression at all? It shows how both of them were hurting each other in the past, but also how they’ve grown and are capable of being better to each other now.

I like how it is short, but there’s still a lot of room for growth (and angst hehe). Personally, I love Mickey in this fic even if he is a bit OOC which is quite hard to achieve for me.

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FOUR. EARLY AND UNPREPARED BY CALICOJACKOFFICIAL

This is a whole series of 5+1 works, and while most have been abandoned (I know, apparently I have a thing for abandoned works sue me), I would still recommend it for slight dom/sub dynamics that are not too weird, or over the top, and that still fit into the canon plotlines?

They’re a lot about Ian and Mickey figuring out things about their own preferences when it comes to sex and also slightly hurting each other in the process, but that’s sort of the whole point. I loooooove angst, so this one delivers the most of it, while still having happy smutty moments at the end of it!

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FIVE. BOY WITHOUT A FACE, BY ANOMALOUSLY

This is the OG college AU fic for me and I love it so much. It was my favorite fanfic for the longest time and I still hold it in a special place in my heart.

It is super short – only 10 chapters long – and you can find both Ian’s and Mickey’s perspective (Mickey’s is titled Boy In the Sun) in the author’s profile. It is pretty fast paced, which I like actually, and I love how angsty it is, even though the characters barely even interact lmao. Yes, just give me angst for no reason.

I highly recommend reading both Mickey’s and Ian’s perspectives, because even though they follow pretty much the same events, some scenes are just so much better in one or the other’s point of view. Ugh. It’s great!

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SIX. STACCATO HEARTBEAT BY ARIASTARKE

A classic, if you will.

This is not super incredibly popular, in terms of comments and bookmarks, but I consider this to be such a classic for Gallavich fanfiction. It is a one-shot, 15k words long, where Ian and Mickey start this friends with benefits relationship, but Mickey is veryyyyy closeted.

I love Ian in this fic and his relationship with Fiona is so great. Plus, for a one-shot, the angst is surprisingly believable and the pacing just chef’s kiss.

In general, I like fics where they are able to pick up the canon dynamic of “casual sex to lovers” but apply it to slightly different contexts and dynamics. This one is another that I was obsessed with during quarantine and thought way too much about.

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SEVEN. SINCE WE’RE ALONE BY BUFFYMILKOVICH AND LETHARGICMICK

This one was certainly an obsession for me early this year, being is a college AU romance between Mickey – hockey player – and Ian – his overdramatic tutor.

It’s an enemies to friends with benefits to lovers, which!!!!!!!!! Hello yes. Mickey and Ian have such hilarious banter and I also really appreciate the original characters here. If you enjoy the Off Campus series, I can’t imagine you not liking this one? Granted, I’ve never read Off Campus but if the vibes are hockey, enemies to lovers, pretty overdramatic and hilarious friends, then it checks off all the boxes.

It’s also from Mickey’s perspective, which tends to be my favorite. I am bummed that it seems like it has been abandoned just before the last chapter, but there’s certainly a lot to binge read and the way it ends is satisfying enough.

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EIGHT. OF SLIP ‘N’ SLIDES & DUMB DISTRACTIONS BY IANRIGHTSONLY

For my fellow fans of PWP, I have to recommend this one because it is actually very well written and I love Ian in this fic so much? He’s very desperate, very horny, but also a bit embarrassed by his own desires and Mickey just knows how to trigger him.

It is a 5+1 type of one-shot, set between seasons 10 and 11 as Mickey and Ian have become the babysitters of the Gallaghers household and can never catch a time to be alone.

It is great, honestly. As someone who definitely prefers more emotional smut scenes, I have to say that this one really surprised me and I would love to read more about this Ian.

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NINE. SIDEWAYS BY WHATICAMEHEREFOR

This fic definitely healed my post season 5 heart when I read it. It is a season 6/7 fix-it, where Mickey is still in prison, but Ian gets his shit together and starts visting him again. It’s short, but does SO much for the angst girlies out here like myself.

It centers more on Mickey and I do think some people may perceive it as anti-Ian, but again, I’ve never felt like Mickey was cut slack during this. Plus, he’s already in prison, so it’s expected he won’t be punished by the narrative any more than that.

The Gallaghers annoy me in this one a bit, but for the most part, it’s a soft and fast-paced time.

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TEN. APARTMENT 4A BY SKIESBELOW

 I am always hesitant to call an ongoing work a favorite, because there’s always the chance the author will just give up on writing it halfway through and here I am, left as an orphan.

This can definitely happen in this case, but I am choosing to put it in the list as a manifestation that hopefully the author will stick with it and we’ll see through the ending of this one.

It is one of my favorite tropes – the casual sex one – coupled with another one of my favorites – roommates and forced proximity. I love the occasional Mandy appearance and I really, really hope we get more than the promised 11 chapters hehe.

Do you read fanfics? Do you also exclusively read from one fandom or you like a bit of anything? What are your favorite tropes and tags you’ll avoid at all costs (the one i will always avoid is mpreg, no seriously, it haunts me)? Let’s chat in the comments!